Alessandro Anselmi's Architectural Drawings Critique Modernism in 1960s Rome

In the early 1960s, Roman architect Alessandro Anselmi and the group known as the "school of Rome" launched a critical return to history, simultaneously mounting a fierce challenge to modernism and its expressive barrenness, as exemplified by the late phase of the International Style. This movement represented a deliberate shift away from modernist principles, emphasizing historical engagement over the stark functionalism that had dominated architecture. Anselmi's architectural drawings from this period serve as key artifacts of this ideological pivot, reflecting a broader architectural discourse in Rome that sought to reintegrate historical references and expressive depth into design. The critique targeted the International Style's perceived lack of emotional and cultural resonance, positioning Anselmi's work within a significant moment of architectural reevaluation in Italy. The source material, published on February 1, 1988, documents this historical development without specifying a particular exhibition or event, focusing instead on the conceptual underpinnings of Anselmi's practice and the school of Rome's collective stance.